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“Does anyone know exactly where we’re going?” Ethan called. “Is this even the right direction?” He was powering the IRB straight out from Bannimor, almost in line with the cliff that rose between the Bay and Ocean beach.
“This feels right,” Skye said.
“Yeah,” Morgan nodded.
Fear jolted in Ethan with the realisation that he thought it felt like the right direction, too, and that his lost memories of what he’d seen in the bay a few days ago might have something to do with that feeling.
Skye and Morgan stared out across the grey water, and Ethan wondered if perhaps this wasn’t their first trip to Hunter’s alleged underwater city. Did this solve the puzzle of Skye’s missing days at sea? He felt curiosity stir beneath his fear. He supposed it was something like Atlantis. Would they all have gills and fish fins? Then he remembered Thea, the perfectly formed, apparently human Thea. Whose touch was as cold as the water she breathed.
He’d resisted hearing anything bad about Thea, and pushed away his own doubts about her. Now that he thought about it, that was always easy to do when he was with her. Had she been manipulating him all along? His chest burned at the idea.
“How would Liam be able to help Thea with - what was it - a spell? And why would Thea want to destroy her own clan? They must have been really evil to her.”
“Like we said,” Morgan called over her shoulder, “psycho.”
Skye balanced her way back to him, using the round arm of the IRB’s side for support. “Well, they ostracised her for trying to kill me,” she said. “Maybe that pushed her over the edge? And Liam thought they’d killed Gina.”
“Had they?”
Skye shook her head. “She’s why he left. To be with her.”
“Gina is still alive?” Ethan asked, unsure how he felt about that idea. Creepy but good? “But how could he help them? Isn’t he just, you know, a regular guy?”
“Yeah, he is. But he’s descended from the people that Thea’s kind used to be, and also... Did you know it was a curse that made them like they are now?”
He nodded. “Thea mentioned it. Some lord or something cursed them over a struggle for power?” he frowned, trying to remember.
“That’s right. Well, that’s the other line Liam’s descended from. Looks like some of that old power is still in his blood.”
“And maybe in Alan’s too.” Ethan thought about it. “Then Liam double-crossed her or something, and she’s got an old grudge anyway... The sea is her territory, so maybe that’s why she was so keen to get them both out there. But why Hunter?”
“Hell hath no fury,” Morgan quipped, joining them.
“What was the curse? To live in the sea? That’s a bit, I don’t know, random.”
“They were cursed to be forgotten, wiped from the face of the earth. Their whole city got thrown into the ocean. They tried to protect themselves, and ‘they’ happened.” Skye gestured to the open sea ahead of them.
“Are you saying I can't remember what happened that day I woke up in the water, because they are cursed to be forgotten? Then why do I remember Thea?”
“Good question,” said Skye. “It makes me think something has failed in the curse.”
“That's a good thing, right?”
“I don't know,” said Skye. “Being forgotten keeps them safe.”
“I think being forgotten would make me crazy.” Skye’s eyebrows rose, and she stared at him. “Maybe you’re right,” she said quietly.
They sat without speaking for a while, gripping the cables along the side as the boat leapt out towards Lithus.
“Is that them?” Skye pointed to the right, squinting.
Morgan raised Ethan’s binoculars. “Yes. But I can’t see anyone.”
A muffled explosion reached them over the noisy waves and engine.
“What was that?”
“Sounds like Alan found what he was looking for.” Ethan steered the IRB towards the distant boat.
